Basque Potato Tortilla

I know, you’ve been dying to hear about last week’s French Fridays with Dorie Recipe. Dying! It’s Tuesday. I don’t know how you waited.  (If you are thinking “What IS she talking about??  See this post.)  I somewhat liked the Basque Potato Tortilla that was on the schedule, but this was June’s response:

That was after I told her she had to eat three more bites. She had finished the bread and had nothing else to look forward to in the meal. It was only Basque Potato Tortilla ahead. I’m not trying to be insensitive, but doesn’t that kill you? She looks so full of angst!

So, what is a Basque Potato Tortilla?  The Basque region, where this dish is very popular, straddles France’s border with Spain (hence the spanish “tortilla”).  In this case a tortilla is basically a thick omelet, or you could think of it as a crustless quiche, a frittata, etc.  The original recipe calls for potato, but we decided to make another one with mushrooms in the filling.  This is part of why I like DG’s books.  She offers ideas for variations in almost every recipe. She’s so good at showing the flexibility that exists in cooking.  Flexibility works for me.

Anyway, we cooked down the ingredients for our fillings (potato or mushrooms, onion, rosemary, and garlic) in a skillet until soft, mixing together nine, yes, NINE eggs in a bowl while they were cooking.  You remove the filling from the pan, clean the pan (because you are going  to use it to cook the tortilla), mix the filling mixture and eggs together, and pour everything back into the skillet to cook.  After a few minutes you throw it in the oven, under the broiler, to brown the top and finish cooking.

Although they were super easy, the tortillas didn’t bowl me over.  I liked it, but didn’t love it, Susan says she enjoyed it, even though it had a simple taste, our husbands put hot sauce on it (but did eat several helpings), and I think the picture of June sort of sums up my kids’ responses to it. They were just glad there was bread.

Next up on the FFWD recipe schedule: Almond Orange Tart.  After a very practical one, a fancier one feels about right. I’ll keep you posted.